Grants and outreach to advance sustainable innovations to the whole of American agriculture. | |||||||||||||||||
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Organic 101: Sharing Farm-Based Knowledge with Professionals Boyhan even joined the board of Georgia Organics, a nonprofit organization that won the SARE professional development grant to build knowledge and skills in organic agriculture by training information providers. Jim Formby, a former farm manager, also toured organic farms as part of the Georgia Organics educational project. When he bought 23 acres in Pike County, GA, in 2004, he immediately applied to Georgia Organics’ Farmer-to-Farmer Mentor program, but as a student, not a mentor. “All of my background in college and professionally had been on large farms that depended on high chemical input,” he said. With land prices escalating, Formby had developed a vision of a small, diversified farm with high-value products he could retail directly to the consumer. The tour defined that dream, and the Georgia Organics mentoring program cemented it. In all, Georgia Organics reached some 250 agricultural professionals over the 3 years of their project through seven workshops and farm tours. Those events were planned with help from four farmers, who ensured they had an in-the-field realism. By presenting at professional conferences, some of which headlined them as keynote speakers, they reached an additional 500 professionals, including Extension educators, NRCS staff, and environmental health professionals. The events brought more researchers from land-grant universities and extension specialists to bear on the needs of Georgia’s organic growers, said Mary Ann Woodie, Georgia Organics’ conference coordinator. “It’s all about bringing people together.” The group continues to build capacity through education. Recently, they received a SARE professional development grant to develop curricula in organic agriculture for high school teachers and a module on organic gardening for extension agents to use in their Master Gardener programs. [View the project report.]
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